Fuzhou 

       The coastal location made it one of the first batches of cities in China to benefit from the opening and reform policy. Like in many other cities in the country, nothing can stop the rage of economic growth here. Some popular attractions in Fuzhou are the HuiAn girls' costumes culture of Hakka.

       The capital city of Fujian province in southeast China, Fuzhou boasts a history of around 2000 years. The city is blessed with mild sub-tropical marine climate, and fantastic resources such as hot springs and seafood. 

        Fuzhou obtained the name "city of banyans" during the northern song dynasty (960-1127), and even today, ancient banyan trees with their wide-spreading branches are everywhere to be seen in this sprawling city.

         In the heart of downtown Fuzhou, instead of skyscrapers, you will find a huge area of ancient residential buildings, which is a rarity in modern Chinese cities. This area is known as Sanfang-Qixiang, namely, three lanes and seven alleys - a critical symbol of Fuzhou as a historic city.

         Everywhere you touch upon is history in Sanfang-Qixiang. Most walls are built with huge bricks which cannot be found in modern houses. And if you look closely, you can find plenty of seashells as it is a coastal city.

        Covering an area of about 40 hectares, Sanfang-Qixiang is praised by many architects as the museum of architecture in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is said the layout of the lanes and alleys was formed even earlier back in the Tang and Song dynasties which is almost 1000 years ago.

         Around a hundred houses built in the Ming and Qing dynasties are still in existence, although many are in neglected locations. Most of the houses were built by well-off people such as officials or businessmen at the time. The exquisite wood carvings, stone carvings, and opulent details all testify to the past glory.

         This area used to be the upscale neighborhood of Fuzhou during the early 20th century. It raised many renowned scholars and politicians of the Chinese contemporary history, such as Mr. Yan Fu, who introduced the understanding of modern Western thoughts into China.

          Strolling in Sanfang-Qixiang is like taking the time machine back to last century. While the younger generation want to move out to enjoy the modern luxury; for older people, their spiritual root is deeply set in this community as it allows them to find their best pastime here. 

         Once a week, retirees put on a local opera performance in one of the old houses set in Sanfang-Qixiang.

         One of Fuzhou’s specialty food is known as ‘yanpi’ and for anyone who wants to know more about Fuzhou, you should know about this. This is a special kind of wrap made from pounding pork. With so much effort used to produce such a wrap, there is no way that the final product is not delicious. 

         A small store in Sanfang-Qixiang is among the few workshops in Fuzhou that still make yanpi the traditional way, thus making this shop extremely popular. So don't forget to ask for yanpi when visiting, it will definitely make your trip to Fuzhou worth while. 

         To get a better understanding of Fuzhou’s ancient architecture, you can trek outside of the city and find many well-kept old residential compounds in nearby villages. Honglincuo in Minqing county is one of them.